Day 308 Malawi 06/09/2011, Mangochi – 'Mvuu Camp', Liwonde National Park. 39.10miles/62.40km, 3hr59minutes, Av 9.8mph.

It appears that Mangochi is mosquito central, at least as far as our hotel room was concerned. Even being 'DEET'd' up to the max, we still got bitten. In fairness there was a mosquito net, but that had a few too many large holes to be truly effective. Plus with it down it was just too hot in the room. Even though we were in the executive room, the provided fan didn't have a plug fitted. Instead you are supposed to push the two bare wires into the socket and hope that you aren't electrocuted. Perhaps in the standard room you don't even get a socket, just some live wires coming out of the wall!

After the standard breakfast of cremated egg, chips and stale bread, we set off for Liwonde National Park. The headwind hadn't left us during the night, but fortunately it wasn't as strong as the day before. Along the way we encountered the usual begging children and caused quite a stir with some local women when we stopped for a break. Aside from them asking for money, water, stuff, etc, they seemed generally amused at us being there. Debs was the centre of attention and our not so restful break turned into a slightly bizarre yet overall fun experience. Lots of shaking of hands later and we were back on the road.

One good experience was countered by a not so great one, when we passed a large school. In truth it was an ill chosen spot to take a break, but we didn't imagine that we would be surrounded by such a large group of money demanding children. This was a far cry from the other groups of school children that we have encountered elsewhere in the world.

Heading into what seemed like the busiest town in Malawi, we had a pleasant surprise. It turned out that I had misread the map and 20km earlier than expected, we were close to the turn off to the national park. The long day into the wind that we had been expecting was thankfully going to be a fair bit shorter. About 500m out of the town of Ulongwe, we turned onto the dirt road that would take us to the park. The road surface was pretty good and it winded for the next 16km through some of the best stocked villages we have encountered. There was of course the expected shouts of 'give me' by some of the kids, but for the main part it was very friendly.

Just over an hour later and we arrived at the National Park gates. We paid our entrance fee and headed, slowly as we had been warned about elephants, towards the jetty where we would get a boat across to Mvuu (Hippo) Camp. After a bit of a discussion with the parks person we decided to stow our bikes with her instead of taking them over to the camp. They had sent a big enough boat to take all our gear, but it still seemed a bit of a struggle to get the bikes on board as well.

Obviously managing 5 bags each when they aren't attached to the bikes is a bit of a mission on its own. Fortunately the lodge staff were all really friendly and helped us carry them to reception. The camp seems to be a very professional set up and rather more upmarket than we are used to. At $15 per person to camp it is also the most expensive place we have camped for a while. We will certainly be giving the $25 per head dinner a miss! With 'beware the hippo and other wild animals' posted all round the site we went off to pitch our tent. We are pitched under a tree, to offer some shade and hopefully make it difficult for a hippo to trample us during the night!

Having got settled we went to see about lunch. We will be making full use of the good self catering facilities here. The area is secured by a screen door to keep out the grabbing hands of the resident monkeys, however the staff keep helpfully leaving the door open! Emmanuel at reception has already given us a key to the lockers in the kitchens, with the parting words “keep your food locked up, the monkeys will cause lots of problems”.

Back at the camp-ground we met a lovely English couple, Ron and Jo, who live in South Africa. Once again our little tent was shown up by their rather magnificent off-road trailer, complete with huge tent and kitchen, that they are towing. They are very good company and we will be joining them on a river safari tomorrow morning. Liwonde National Park has one of the greatest proliferations of hippos in the world, not to mention large numbers of crocodile, elephant and bird life. A trip on the Shire river is the highlight of visiting here. The camp-ground itself seems to have quite a large population of warthogs as well, which do a good job of making your heart race when you nearly walk into one during the night!

A dinner of steak and vegetables washed down with a couple of beers and a beautiful sunset rounded off an enjoyable day. I have calculated that it is cheaper to drink beer than soft drinks. If any more excuses were required as to the benefits of beer, then in Malawi at least, it is money saving!

Assuming we survive the attentions of any roaming hippos or elephants we will be up bright and early for our river safari. Something we have been looking forward to for ages.

Day 307 Malawi 05/09/2011, Cape Maclear – 'WelliVille Lodge', Mangochi. 46.66miles/74.57km, 5hr18minutes, Av 8.7mph.

In what seems like typical fashion on the day we intend to leave, the wind got up quite dramatically during the night. The constant flapping of the tent, howling wind and crashing waves wasn't particularly conducive to a good nights sleep. The more beers than are recommended for a pre-cycling night probably didn't help either. In truth we didn't have that many we just got chatting to Kim and Chris and lost track of how many we had had. Turning in for the night I managed to get a bit of sleep, but Debs had a shocker!

Having breakfasted we de-caterpillared the tent, loaded the bikes and set off up the dirt road into the wind. Due to the fact that we were moving quite slowly the wind wasn't really an issue. In fact during the first part of the track which was a bit of a climb, it had a nice cooling effect. Fortunately Debs hip has been a lot better lately, so despite being tired she managed the few steep hills without too much difficulty.

18km later and we reached the tarmac which was a bit of a relief as the corrugations on the last few kilometres were quite bad. Before we set off for Mangochi we stopped to say thank you and goodbye to George, Matthews and the other carvers who were involved in making our wooden touring bike. They are a really friendly bunch of guys and we are very pleased with what they came up with.

Back on the road and it was a case of another day and another headwind. At times during the journey it was so strong that we were barely moving. I would love to say that we travelled through beautiful scenery but I really didn't see any of it. The entire journey was spent with headphones in to distract from the burning leg muscles and my head down looking at the road just in front of my wheel. Debs meanwhile was doing her best to stay in my slipstream. We had considered stopping earlier than Mangochi, but had decided that as it was only 75km away it would be a waste of a day. At times during the journey that looked like a really stupid decision.

With lunchtime approaching we stopped in a small restaurant and discovered that they only had 'nsima' (thick starchy porridge made from corn or cassava) ready. Having avoided this for the last two countries or at least it's similar counterpart, we decided that we better give it a go. Lunch turned out to be somewhat less than a triumph! Nsima has the consistency of school semolina and almost no discernible taste. There, for us at least, is nothing to like about it. Worse still the accompanying beef, I use the term loosely, was gristly with splinters of bone running through it. Even I couldn't eat some of it and I normally manage to eat everything!

With stomachs full of disappointment, we hit the road and after another 25km of struggling against the wind we arrived in Mangochi. The 'WelliVille lodge' is fine for one night although they are hoping a bit with their description of our room as 'executive'. Also we have come across this strange anomaly a few times in Malawi where despite being a double room you only get breakfast for one. If you both want breakfast you have to pay extra. All things aside, hopefully it will be quiet enough that we get some much needed sleep.

As our next stop is 'Liwonde National Park' we headed to the market to get some supplies. The food at the camps is quite expensive so we really want to self cater. Shopping fortunately didn't take too long as we are both shattered. An early dinner and an early night is definitely this evening's plan. We hope the wind dies a bit before tomorrow as we have a fairly long day ahead of us.

Day 301 Malawi 30/08/2011, Mufasa camp, Monkey Bay – Mangochi – Mufasa camp. Pick-ups, shopping and a minibus.

Breakfast this morning was bacon and eggs for the first time on the camp stove since Europe. The bacon in town may have been quite expensive but it was worth every penny! It certainly made a change from boiled eggs, toast and honey.

Having eaten our fill, we headed into town to catch a bus/matola (pick-up) to Mangochi, where we hoped to get some supplies and more importantly some money. Luckily the first vehicle we encountered that was going to Mangochi was a matola with two empty front seats, so we wouldn't have to ride in the back. Getting to the town which was only 50km away certainly wasn't fast. The constant stopping to pick up and drop off passengers and their cargo, combined with lots of waiting at villages until we were overloaded, meant that the journey took nearly 2 hours. By the time we arrived we were both suffering from numb buttocks, our backsides are now shaped for a bike saddle, and stiff limbs. Still it could have been worse, we could have been crammed into the back with everyone else.

Our trip to Mangochi was a successful one. We managed to get some money out, checked out a potential guest-house for when we cycle through and bought some fruit and vegetables. The journey back was also an improvement, when we got a seat in one of the minibuses. Changing driver three times on the journey back was a bit of a laugh, especially when each one seemed to try and outdo the others on the speed front. The last driver was especially fast, seemingly holding out changing gear until the engine was screaming. We half expected to hear a bang and see parts of the engine flying out from under the bonnet. With the vehicle remarkably still in one piece, we arrived back in Monkey Bay and it had only taken just over an hour.

Walking back towards the camp we found some cheap sausages in a small market. Having struggled to find food for most of our time in Malawi, we now have sausages, eggs, bacon and vegetables. It is just a shame that I rejected buying potatoes while we were in Mangochi. Sausages and pasta just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Our time in Monkey Bay and Mufasa camp has been pretty good, but it will be nice to try and find somewhere that has a flat camp-ground and electricity. Considering the fact that Mufasa camp is quite expensive, it offers very little for the money. It is undoubted peaceful and being on a private beach means that there are no beach boys trying to sell you things. There are however still quite a lot of locals coming in and out that leave you wondering who they are. The camp-site is also full of half collapsed tents, which apparently some of the staff sleep in. In the couple of nights we were there, we only saw one being used so why are they taking up space in what is quite a limited area. I personally haven't found Mufasa camp to be the restful, 'paradise on earth' that the owners would have you believe. Having to camp on a slope certainly hasn't aided it being very restful. There is too much of a work in progress look to the set up at the moment for me to get too excited. Of late, people seem to have been quite quick to tell us that Cape Maclear is very touristy and there is a lot of hassle from the beach boys, so it will be interesting to see for ourselves when we head there tomorrow.